Monday, March 14, 2011

I woud love to describe in exhaustive detail all my wonderful experiences at my very first Star Trek convention this past weekend at the San Francisco Hyatt, but my brain just keeps rolling the same astonished sentence over and over: "I met Leonard Nimoy, I met Leonard Nimoy..."

It may take me a week or three to get over that.

Many of my Facebook friends told me how jealous they were that I got to see Spock, and normally I would say something comforting like, "Oh, don't be, he was a real jerk!" But, he wasn't. He was gracious and talkative and had a smile or a joke for everyone. Nimoy was truly everything one hopes for when meeting someone special that you have been watching on television since toddler-hood!

Heather, Leonard & Garet

Nimoy spoke for over an hour on Saturday, thrilling the audience with pictures from his childhood, his time in the U.S. Army, early acting work... including a portrait of him in his first feature film, Zombies of the Stratosphere, rare scenes from the Star Trek set back in the 1960s, a timeline through his many Trek movies, then on up to his most recent photography work.

What a treat, to see such a multi-talented artist share a lifetime of his work, just shy of his 80th birthday (which will be on March 26th). To think, he started out just driving a taxi around Los Angeles.

And wow! We had such a blast all day, I cannot believe I never attended a convention -- because it's quite different from what I pictured. My friend Garet from high school had been to conventions before, and was very concerned that I have a good time at my first... but he had nothing to worry about! We made many friends while touring the booths, taking pictures, and enjoying auditorium presentations by humans, Vulcans and Klingons.

Click to see the entire photo gallery!

At one point, a professional photographer asked us to pose for portraits, so here's hoping we make it into his new Star Trek book. I realized that when you attend one of these events in costume, you are public property when it comes to having your picture taken right and left! I lost count of how many flashes went off in my face.

I do not labor under the delusion that I am a member of Starfleet or ruled by the Federation of Planets, LOL... nor did I meet anyone who was as freaky as depicted in that "Trekkies" film, which were unnecessarily extreme examples of people who enjoy science fiction as a hobby.

Most are perfectly normal people, leading regular lives, and who enjoy stories about space travel and other planets as a form of commentary on the human condition. And what fun when you can all get together and share the passion!

Literally... the Next Generation!

Creation Entertainment hosts many different types of conventions all over the continent, and I hope to attend the larger Trek convention in Las Vegas this summer, celebrating Star Trek's 45th Anniversary... where both William Shatner and Patrick Stewart will be speaking together.

We'll see how much travel money I have left after the final Shuttle launch!